Court rejects van driver's appeal over rape of mentally-challenged teen girl
NST
KUALA LUMPUR: A van driver who had raped a mentally-challenged teenage girl had his appeal against his conviction, jail sentence and lashing, thrown out by the High Court today.
In dismissing 51-year-old Ser Kim Joo's appeal, justice Datuk Azman Abdullah said the Sessions Court has not erred in making the decision and that it was safe to uphold the conviction and sentence against the accused.
"In this case, one of the witnesses - a psychiatrist - had conducted an observation on the victim and confirmed that the girl was mentally-challenged," he said.
Azman also said that the court found that the testimony given by the victim herself was natural and not made up.
The judge also found that her statement about what had happened to her was in line with the evidence produced by a witness - a medical officer - who had examined the 16-year-old girl.
The witness had found three old tears at the victim's hymen.
“You are lucky that the deputy public prosecutor did not appeal against your sentences. You could have been jailed for 24 months but the Sessions Court had ordered for the sentences to run concurrently," Azman said.
On Dec 9, the Sessions Court had convicted Ser of two counts of rape after he had given sworn evidence.
In sentencing, the court found that the accused, who was supposed to have picked up the Form Four student and send her to tuition classes, had instead brought her to his house and raped her, on two different occasions.
He was then sentenced to 12 months jail and a stroke of the rotan for each charge and ordered to serve the sentences concurrently from the date of his arrest on Dec 2, 2014.
The widower with four children, was charged with raping the victim twice on Nov 22, 2014 and then a week later at a flat in Wangsa Maju.
Eight prosecution witnesses and two defence witnesses, including his the accused's daughter, had testified in the rape trial.
Deputy public prosecutor Aznika Mohd Anas prosecuted while Ser was represented by counsel Tan Choong Hong.
